Display signs are used in a wide variety of industries, and are frequently used in the promotion and advertising of products and services. Some of these display signs are used indoors, while others are used in an outdoor environment. One popular outdoor display sign is the billboard, which is typically located in populous or high-traveled areas, such as, for example, along roadsides or on the exterior of buildings. The traditional billboard is a “static” type of display sign in that the advertising image is permanently or semi-permanently affixed to the boards as paint or paper applied in the form of the message to be conveyed. In order to provide 24-hour viewing of the billboard display, an array of lights is typically attached to the billboard's frame and disposed adjacent the displayed message for viewing at night. In some cases, when using a somewhat transparent or translucent sheet, backlighting may also be employed.
More recently, “dynamic” billboards such as electronic billboards have been employed for purveying information to large numbers of people. The dynamic nature of these electronic billboards allows the displayed information to be changed electronically, or otherwise. In both types of outdoor billboards, static and dynamic, it is the use of lights which provides a 24-hour-a-day viewing capability of the displayed message. Thus, the loss of one or more lights of either of these types of displays renders it more difficult, and perhaps even impossible, to discern the displayed message. A billboard lighting failure thus reduces billboard effectiveness in carrying out its intended purpose. Because of the remote location of many billboards, this type of failure may go undetected for an extended period before it is corrected.
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing a billboard lighting monitor/control system which uses SMS messages over a wireless network to remotely monitor multiple points in the system including utility power and lighting system component status, and provides failure alerts as well as the capability to remotely control various lighting system operating parameters. The present invention is also adapted for remotely monitoring the status of and exercising control over the operation of an electric power backup system.